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Chris Messina

Breaker Upstream - The first premium podcast marketplace

by
Top Hunter
•

Breaker Upstream is the first open marketplace for podcasters to sell premium audio content directly to listeners. Podcasters of all sizes can now earn revenue without relying on advertising, making it easier for anyone to start a successful podcast.

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Ryan Hoover
I hope to see more tools like this to support the podcast ecosystem and creators. I know the Breaker team likely won't make the direct comparison but this feels like a "Patreon for podcasters". If I had more time I'd love to create a personal podcast to experiment with this model... but for now my focus needs to remain on Product Hunt and the podcast we're launching soon. Disclaimer: I invested in Breaker last year.
Joe Anderson
@rrhoover A premium product hunt podcast could be interesting, curious how you would balance free content and paid premium (reminds me of stratechery). That's probably a model a lot of podcasters will have to figure out
Jonathan Cutrell
@rrhoover As one of the podcasters partnering with Breaker on this, I don't mind comparing it directly. Realistically, this brings the idea of a supporting subscription much more directly to the user. This is dedicated to podcasts, and that makes the experience so much better. I already loved Breaker as my personal podcast player of choice (with no affiliation). This is going to help our audience have a more direct support model for the show with an excellent UX to support THEM.
Ian Smith
@rrhoover @anderson760 as a podcast host myself using Patreon, I would never expect to have to pay for a brand's (Product Hunt or any other) podcast, whether premium or not. Just look at 20khz—they drive a ton of exposure to their parent company (Defacto Sound) for free because they just make great content. Donating is optional.
Adam Stacoviak
@rrhoover interesting...I'd love to talk with you on Founders Talk if you're interested. Say hi or get in touch.
Ryan Hoover
@adamstac appreciate that! I'm holding off committing to more interviews for the next month or so. Trying to focus! But feel free to message me on PH next month if there's interest.
Colin Jones
Love Breaker already, but this is a great differentiator and way to drive the audio industry forward. There are various revenue models aside from advertising in premium video content, why not in audio as well? I listen to and value podcasts at least as much as the video content I pay for on Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. That said, I don't know that any ONE podcast provides enough value to warrant the $4.99/mo. example shown above ($0.99/mo. might be more reasonable). There's a reason HBO doesn't charge $5/mo. per show, but rather $15/mo. for access to all their content. Maybe something more like Medium's model where you share revenue back to publishers based on consumption might make more sense from the consumer standpoint? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just some thoughts. But great job and congrats on launching this, Breaker team!
Leah Culver
Maker
@ctothejones Thanks! 💙 Breaker allows the podcaster to choose their price point, so they can experiment with what works best for them. Developer Tea is one of our launch partners. They have a large and loyal audience, so they're launching an ad-free version for $4.99/month. Over time we'll see how this model works out, but we think it's a great way for podcasters to be able to choose how to monetize their content.
Scott Edwards
@ctothejones @leahculver What about purchasing individual episodes? Is/will that be an option? Not sure why sub's are all the rage these days for content...
Leah Culver
Maker
@ctothejones @scottedwards2000 Yes, individual episode purchase is another option that Breaker offers! Our launch partners 20 Minute Fitness and Fit Because are offering bonus premium episodes.
Scott Edwards
@ctothejones @leahculver awesome! love that you guys offer audio versions of avod, svod, and tvod (aaod, saod, taod anyone?) for potentially the *same* content - that is so rare in the video world I work in...
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
Hunter
Super fan of Breaker (375 listens so far!) — and this approach is very timely. I've noticed a significant uptick in the number of ads being spliced into podcasts and... it's frankly ruining the format in many cases. Hopefully this approach will allow listeners to support their favorite shows and provide specific tooling for podcasters that general crowdfunding platforms like Patreon don't. My biggest worry is about the size of Breaker's audience... it's going to have to grow considerably to make this viable for producers. 🤞🏻
John Egan
@chrismessina Also a super fan of Breaker (354 listens). I'm very excited about this podcast marketplace in the social community sense. This not only opens new doors for paying a subscription fee for ad-free podcasts, but can also be a place for publishers to sell any merchandise through in-app purchases or deeplinks to store pages. For example, Publishers can sell t-shirts, books, memorabilia, etc. within the podcast or user profile page. Or even a podcast about a new book coming out can highlight that product and link out to Amazon to pre-order/buy. Showcasing products and highlighting links that are used within podcast show notes can be great affiliate program. <- These type of formats can appeal to a ton of publishers that can bring in more users.
Hunter Walk
happy to see anything which helps the long tail of creators get paid!
Dre Durr💡
Will the podcast host be able to create coupon codes for their audience? Could be an interesting way to use a content upgrade. Dope🚬🚬
Leah Culver
Maker
@dredurr The ability to have coupons didn't quite make it in before launch, but we hope to add it super soon. Were you thinking of it could be used as a percent discount or to offer a podcast/episode for free to certain people?
Dre Durr💡
@leahculver I was thinking of offering bonus and behind the scenes episodes for free. Having something to offer the user as an incentive to subscribe is a game changer.
Stephen Radford
This is fantastic! Anything that furthers the podcast as a medium as great news. One question, when the user has purchased an episode or subscription are those episodes theirs for good? Can they be exported?
Leah Culver
Maker
@steve228uk Thanks! When a user purchases an episode or subscription, it is available to them in the Breaker app and the Breaker website to listen to as much as they like. For security reasons, there's no way to export the audio.
Jamie Perkins
Does this only work for the Breaker app?
Leah Culver
Maker
@inorganik You can listen to purchased podcasts and episodes in the Breaker app and on the Breaker website (when logged in).
joost schriek
I love breaker and the discoverability of awesome pods (I listen in Overcast though) and I like this direction and platform, but I find this is worrying for the podcast ecosystem. Any vendor or app lock-in makes the platform closed, which is not a good way forward for great podcast content or the ecosystem. Is there going to be a way on Breaker Upstream to for listeners of podcasts to purchase premium streams and listen on the app of their choice?
Leah Culver
Maker
@joostschriek We're definitely thinking about these issues and we're also concerned about keeping purchased content private.
Reed Siemieniuk

Love it

Pros:

Great idea!

Cons:

None

Roland Clifford
i supported this project
Amin
Glad to see such a product on the market. Personally, I would not sign up before seeing what's available. I think it would make sense to have that without forcing visitors to register as some people (myself included) won't register just for the sake of seeing what's there
Jonathan Cutrell
@footer I'm generally "sign-up averse" as well. With that said, Upstream isn't another signup if you already have Breaker. If you're a podcast listener, Breaker is worth checking out on its own even if you never use Upstream.
World of Creatives
I love the concept and the mission. I get so much value in my life from my favorite podcast and I always wonder how much they are getting paid to empower so many listeners. This is a great way to finally empower the podcasters. Wishing nothing but success for the Breaker team.
Leah Culver
Maker
@creativitypizza Thanks! 💙
William Pomeroy
Love your podcast app, and I will definitely look into this! Any idea when the Breaker Podcast Listening app will come to Android? That coming soon button is maddening! lol
Leah Culver
Maker
@williamp29 Stay tuned! and apologies for it taking so long to get to Android.
Ricardo Ghekiere
I love how more podcasts tools are brought to the world. Your product looks amazing. That said. I am not sure the business model is just right. I haven't met a lot of people that are willing to pay for a podcast. In the B2B space, people that podcast couldn't care if they received 1 dollar for a listener. What they care about is reach and a way to sell their product eventually to the host one day. Or people listening to the podcast. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense to let people pay and add an extra barrier to entry (Porter model). Where I see the future is a marketplace where curated hosts and podcasters find each other to do business. Think about how much they are willing to pay to reach a certain audience without actually writing a single piece of content. Think about all the repurposed content they get from that single interaction. It's where I feel people will pay for.
o1xhack
Last month When I download it, the iPhone app is like 'shit'. Crazy slow and huge latency. Bad animation with the action. Action fail lots of times
Leah Culver
Maker
@o1xhack Sorry to hear you experience issues. If you're okay with it, could you email us at feedback@breaker.audio and include a bit of info about your phone and OS?
Kevando
I love podcasts and I breaker is miles way my favorite app. How do you intend to handle the "clicks at all cost" situation that seems to happen on platforms? ie: twitch dress code.
Leah Culver
Maker
@kevando_ It's a bit soon for us to tell how podcasters will use Breaker Upstream, but we'll be actively making sure our community is positive and respectful. Thanks for asking about this issue!
Arsen Hakobian
really cool))
Dadbeh Shirvanloo
I love it guys keep up the good work. 👌
Carlos Aberdinas

Lets see how monetizing for things that were initially for free will work out in the end

Pros:

Great UI and interesting concept

Cons:

Limited to IOS